McLaren team principal Andrea Stella discussed Max Verstappen’s blistering pace in the final stages of the 2025 Australian GP, which put Lando Norris under pressure with just two laps remaining of the race.
After a strong start of the race, Verstappen found himself in second place after overtaking Oscar Piastri and pressurising Norris for the race lead, but soon his lap times started to fade and he dropped back behind the Australian much of the first stint, as the Red Bull spectacularly lost pace and was almost a pit stop behind the all-conquering McLarens.
Verstappen “used his tyres too hard” in first stint
Stella said it’s “never a surprise” to see Verstappen and Red Bull combination being very competitive, but reckons the Dutchman’s sudden drop in pace in the first part of the grand prix was probably down to using more of his tyres in the opening laps, trying to keep tabs on Norris:
“With the pace of [Max] Verstappen and Red Bull, there’s never a surprise,” he said in his print media session. “It’s Verstappen and Red Bull. They know how to make quick cars, they know how to race fast, and they know how to race well in this kind of tricky and changeable conditions.
“So, not a surprise that Verstappen was so close to us and he was in contention for the victory until the last metre of the race. I think, probably, in the early stages of the race, in order to try and stay with Lando, he might have used his tyres a little too hard. And that’s why he then lost some of the pace and during the first stint, we could open a gap that was equivalent to a pit stop at some stage.
“So, I think at that time, he might have tried to get a bit too much from the tyres, but I think every driver that races for victories tries and gives it a go and sees what happens with the tyres.”
The tense final few laps for Norris
But it all changed when the rain started to come down after a safety car period for Fernando Alonso’s stricken Aston Martin on the exit of turn six. With McLaren’s comfortable gap now inexistent and rain looming, Verstappen was in prime position to pounce when he saw both Norris and Piastri slide off towards the gravel on lap 45.
As the race restarted, the Dutchman couldn’t keep up with Norris initially, but a wide moment for the Briton in turn six gave Verstappen all the impetus to keep fighting and pressurising him all the way to the chequered flag as DRS was enabled.
It looked uncomfortably difficult for Norris in the final few laps, after quite the dominant display in the first three-quarters of the race.
How Norris floor damage gave Verstappen a sniff of victory
Stella believes that could be explained by the Briton sustaining some floor damage which cost him a lot of downforce in the final stages and made it harder for the new championship leader than in “normal circumstances”:
“So, one issue we had in the final laps of the race with Lando is that he had the floor pretty badly damaged, so he had lost, I haven’t heard the numbers yet, but he lost aerodynamic performance and this meant that he couldn’t utilise the full pace of the car,” Stella explained. “So, I think the situation got more tense than would have normally been the case because of this damage on Lando’s car. I think how strong the car was we could see actually with Oscar that in the space of a few laps recovered three, four positions, so I think in normal circumstances it shouldn’t have been that difficult for Lando.”
When quizzed whether the damage was done as the two McLarens slid off just before pitting, Stella admitted it was unclear at the time whether it was after or before the late pit stop sequence, something which the team will analyse in the coming days:
“We are not sure if it was that off on the gravel when the rain came or if it’s an off that he had after the restart. We’re not sure. We will be able to assess that through the data by looking at where we see the step down of aerodynamic performance.”
Competitive picture for the season still to be decided?
Although McLaren’s pace seemed pretty ominous after Norris and Piastri opened 17 seconds to Verstappen after 34 laps of racing – more than half-a-second per lap, accounting for the various safety car laps – Stella still believes it will take a few races to see the real competitive picture for the season ahead:
“Overall, not a surprise, but like I said before, we will have to see a few more races to actually see what is the real competitiveness situation.”
